In the field of consumer electronics, the communication capability of single devices, like set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, TV sets, etc., increases continuously even beyond the boundaries of a single network (sub-network) comprising a TV set and for example a set-top box. The known standard HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) version 1.4 and particularly the CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) protocol and the HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) allow a very sophisticated communication between single devices in a sub-network or even in an overall network comprising for example two sub-networks, etc.
Beside these communication capabilities and the demand that every device in a network is accessible, there is also a demand for a reduction of power consumption. In particular, the network devices should be able to be switched in a low-power consumption mode if not in operation. The HDMI specification 1.4 provides a low-power consumption communication channel, namely the CEC channel mentioned above. The CEC channel for example allows to switch a device back from the low-power consumption mode into the normal operation mode. Nevertheless, network devices being in a low-power consumption mode are not accessible e.g. by any network devices outside of the sub-network.